If you just got a toad as a pet, this article is quite detailed in understanding your pet’s diet.
Frogs and toads differ because toad belongs to the Bufonidae family. Toads are distinguished by dry, warty skin and short legs, which is why toads crawl while frogs do short jumps.
All toads are carnivores in nature and love eating live animals (insects and beetles). They are ambush predators and catch prey with their sticky tongues.
Toads are amphibians that eat different things at different stages of their life to enhance growth. There’s a vast difference between the diet of tadpoles and adult toads. The toad’s age will determine how often you should feed it.
What Do Toads Eat?
Toads eat food depending on age; they feed on live animals, crickets, locusts, flies, mosquitoes, moths, worms, fish, tadpoles, Lizards, snakes, small rodents, and insects. Their diet changes as they grow. Provide your toad pet variety of food because they feed on different types of food in the wild.
What Do Toads Eat in the Wild?
Toads in the wild can hunt themselves using their sticky tongues to catch their prey. They will eat anything they like, which depends on the environment they live in.
The bigger the toad, the more extensive the food list is because they can swallow depending on their size and have a low risk of choking.
- Lizard
- Grasshopper
- Cricket
- Locust
- Small snakes
- Bees
- Small frog
- Tadpoles
- Snail
- Bug
- Centipede
- Aquatic animals
- Small rodents
- Amphibians
What to Feed Tadpoles?
Tadpoles are omnivores at this stage and are not fully formed after hatching. They feed on the remaining yolk of the egg sack. Tadpoles will feed on algae, water weeds, larvae, small insects, worms, decayed plant matter, moss, and aquatic plants. Most tadpoles become cannibals and eat other tadpoles though this happens when there is no vegetation to feed on.
Tadpoles in captivity, on the hand, can be fed boiled baby spinach, zucchini, green peas, green grapes, tropical fish flakes, boiled eggs, decayed plant matter, and commercial tadpole food.
Vegetables and fruits must be carefully rinsed, sliced into bits, and fed to the tadpoles. It is necessary to clean their tank after eating to maintain the water quality.
What do Juvenile Toads Eat?
Juvenile toads should be fed daily, only something they can swallow, as they don’t have teeth to chew on their food. Juvenile toads have legs formed, and their tail at this stage has disappeared. Juvenile grows fast, so they need to be fed every day. A juvenile can be fed medium size of adult food.
Juveniles should feed on moths, worms, beetles, larvae, pinhead cricket, wingless fruit flies, snails, small invertebrates, slugs, ants, and spiders. Juvenile toads have small mouths. Avoid feeding them insects that are too large.
You must study your young toad’s feeding behaviour 5-7 pinhead cricket should suffice for your toad, and increase the number as they grow. Juvenile toads become carnivorous because they have left and can now walk on land.
What Do Adult Toads Eat?
Adult toads eat different kinds of food; their jaws are strong, they have bigger mouths, and they can swallow without choking. Adult toads have a long list of food they can eat. Feeding an adult toad every day can cause problems for your toad. Toads are to eat 2-3 times weekly because overfeeding them could lead to death.
Adult toads can be fed beetles, crickets, flies, snails, slugs, larvae, worms, cricket, grubs, spider, mice, lizards, small snakes, fish, and other toads and frogs.
What Are The Common Toad Feeding Mistakes?
There are lots of mistakes pet owners should avoid because it declines the health of their pets.
- Overfeeding can cause a lot of problems for you as a pet owner. Toads are amphibians animals that don’t produce heat. Offering adult toad food more than 2- 3 times per week could reduce your pet’s life span and cause digestive problems in your animal. Veterinary doctors can inspect fat deposits and tell you if they are overweight.
- Underfeeding can lead to vitamin and calcium deficiency in your toad. Underfeeding could lead to death in your animal. Giving your pet toad the right amount of food and studying its eating habit could be a great way to start.
- Absence of variety, Feeding your pet the same food repeatedly will wear your pet out. The lack of variety can lead to health issues and inactivity in your pet. Spice up their meal by introducing meals they are used to in the wild. Repeating the same food will only make your toad lack an essential diet in its system.
- Feeding your juvenile pet the wrong size of insects can be very dangerous; your juvenile could choke on it or have issues digesting the meal.
- Not utilizing supplements is bad as captured toads do not have the freedom to a nutritional meal; Cricket and worms from pet stores are low in nutrition. The solution to this is getting feeder insects and mixing them with vitamins and calcium supplements for your pet.
- Feeding wild insects to your pet can cause parasite infection in your toad. Getting insects from your backyard might be dangerous to your pet’s health.
Are Toads Cannibalistic?
Yes, Cane toads, especially, are a cannibal. It feeds on smaller toads of its kind when it becomes hungry. It is best to separate your adult toad from your juvenile toad.
Do Toads Drink Water?
No, toads do not drink water. Toads are amphibians that soak in water through their belly to be hydrated. This process is called (cutaneous absorption). If a toad absorbs dirty and chemically ingested water, it will lead to death or chronic diseases.
It is advisable to keep clean water in the tank for them to soak in and be healthy. The humidity from the water helps them stay hydrated.
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Conclusion
Toads eat insects mostly and should not be fed any plant; they have specific plants and vegetables they consume. Don’t feed your pet any animal because most rodents and animals are infected and will affect your toad.
If you have been overfeeding your pet, now is the right time to take it to your veterinary doctor for a checkup.
I hope this article has given you insights on the right things to feed your pet.